Vehicle air conditioning unit

ABSTRACT

A vehicle air conditioning unit includes: a slide door which controls an opening ratio of an opening allowing an air stream to flow therethrough; a deflection suppressing portion which suppresses a deflection of the slide door by pressing the slide door; and a vibration suppressing portion which suppresses the amplitude of a vibration of the slide door generated when the slide door is exposed to the air stream.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioning unit.

Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-32669, filed Feb. 17, 2010, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

2. Description of Related Art

A vehicle air conditioning unit is a unit that supplies conditioned air having a controlled temperature to the interior of a vehicle, and controls a temperature of air or the like by using a heater core and an evaporator disposed in the course of a passageway of an air stream inside a casing.

Generally, the vehicle air conditioning unit includes a plurality of openings that discharge conditioned air to the casing, and may supply the conditioned air to different positions in the vehicle by selecting the openings supplying the conditioned air.

Further, the casing includes therein a heating opening which supplies air cooled by the evaporator to a heater core, and a cool wind opening which bypasses the heater core without supplying the cool air to the heater core. The vehicle air conditioning unit controls the temperature of the conditioned air by controlling the ratio of the air supplied to the heating opening and to the cool wind opening.

In this way, the vehicle air conditioning unit includes a plurality of openings through which the air stream which is the stream of air passes. Then, the vehicle air conditioning unit may control the opening ratio of each opening in order to control the temperature of the conditioned air and the supply ratio of the conditioned air with respect to a plurality of conditioned air supply positions installed in the interior of the vehicle, and the opening ratio of each opening is controlled by, for example, a slide door.

However, the above-described slide door controlling the opening ratio of the opening tends to be decreased in thickness for the purpose of achieving a decrease in the weight, a reduction in the material, a reduction in the driving force allowing the slide door to be slid, and the like.

Since the rigidity of the slide door decreases due to a decrease in the thickness of the slide door, the slide door is curved and bent to the downstream side when receiving the air stream. As a result, there is a problem in that the smooth movement of the slide door is prohibited.

In order to solve such a problem, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H7-205635 discloses a technology that disposes a rib (deflection suppressing portion) on the downstream side of a thinned slide door (film damper) so as to suppress a deflection of the slide door.

However, when the rib suppressing the deflection of the slide door is actually provided, a phenomenon occurs in which the slide door is vibrated using the rib as a node when the slide door is exposed to the air stream.

When the slide door is vibrated in this way, the slide door repeatedly comes into contact with a member (which is generally a casing) supporting the slide door, so that noise is generated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is made in view of the above-described problems, and suppresses noise generated by a vibration of a slide door in a vehicle air conditioning unit.

The present invention adopts the following configuration in order to solve the above-described problems.

(1) A vehicle air conditioning unit according to an aspect of the present invention includes: a slide door which has an opening and is adopted to control an opening ratio of the opening allowing an air stream to flow therethrough; a deflection suppressing portion which is adopted to suppress a deflection of the slide door by pressing the slide door; and a vibration suppressing portion which is adopted to suppress an amplitude of a vibration of the slide door generated when the slide door is exposed to the air stream.

(2) In the vehicle air conditioning unit according to (1), the vibration suppressing portion may come into contact with the slide door from a downstream side of the air stream when the slide door is vibrated.

(3) In the vehicle air conditioning unit according to (1) or (2), the vibration suppressing portion may be provided apart from the deflection suppressing portion, and the deflection suppressing portion and the vibration suppressing portion may be disposed in the whole width of the slide door at a nonuniform interval.

(4) In the vehicle air conditioning unit according to any one of (1) to (3), a plurality of the deflection suppressing portions may be disposed in a width direction of the slide door, and the vibration suppressing portion may be disposed between the deflection suppressing portions.

(5) In the vehicle air conditioning unit according to any one of (1) to (4), the slide door may be slidable by a rack-and-pinion system including a rack and a pinion, a thickness of the slide door may be 1 mm or less, and the rack may be integrally formed with the slide door.

According to the present invention, the amplitude of the vibration of the slide door can be reduced by the vibration suppressing portion when the slide door is exposed to the air stream. As a result, a force with which the slide door hits the support member supporting the slide door is decreased, and hence noise generated at that time can be reduced.

Therefore, according to the present invention, in the vehicle air conditioning unit, noise generated by the vibration of the slide door can be suppressed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of a vehicle air conditioning unit of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating a cool wind opening and a heating opening of the vehicle air conditioning unit of the embodiment of the present invention when seen from the stream direction of the cool wind.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating an air mix damper of the vehicle air conditioning unit of the embodiment of the present invention when seen from the slide direction.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a vehicle air conditioning unit according to the present invention will be described by referring to the accompanying drawings. Further, in the drawings below, the scales of the respective components are appropriately changed so that the respective members are shown in a recognizable size.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of a vehicle air conditioning unit S1 (HVAC: Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning) of the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle air conditioning unit S1 of the embodiment includes: a casing 1; an evaporator 2; an air mix damper unit 3; a deflection suppressing rib 4 (refer to FIGS. 2 and 3); a vibration suppressing rib 5; a heater core 6; a defroster outlet mode damper 7; a face outlet mode damper 8; and a foot outlet mode damper 9.

The casing 1 forms the external shape of the vehicle air conditioning unit S1 of the embodiment, and includes therein a cooling passageway 1 a provided with the evaporator 2, a heating passageway 1 b provided with the heater core 6, and a mixing portion 1 c forming conditioned air by mixing a cool wind (first air stream) with a warm wind (second air stream). Further, the casing 1 includes a plurality of outlets (the defroster outlet 1 d, the face outlet 1 e, and the foot outlet 10 that are exposed to the outside and are connected to the mixing portion 1 c (mixing area).

The defroster outlet 1 d is an opening that supplies the conditioned air to a window.

Further, the face outlet 1 e is an opening that supplies the conditioned air to an occupant's face.

Furthermore, the foot outlet 1 f is an opening that supplies the conditioned air to an occupant's feet.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the casing 1 includes: a warm wind opening 1 g which supplies a warm wind from the heating passageway 1 b provided with the heater core 6 to the mixing portion 1 c; a cool wind opening 1 h which supplies a cool wind from the cooling passageway 1 a provided with the evaporator 2 to the mixing portion 1 c; and a heating opening 1 i which supplies a cool wind from the cooling passageway 1 a to the heating passageway 1 b.

The evaporator 2 is a part of a refrigeration cycle mounted on a vehicle, and is disposed inside the cooling passageway 1 a. The evaporator 2 generates a cool wind by cooling air supplied from a blower (not shown) into the cooling passageway 1 a.

The air mix damper unit 3 is disposed on the downstream side of the evaporator 2, and controls the quantity of the cool wind generated from the evaporator 2 and supplied to the heating passageway 1 b. More specifically, the air mix damper unit 3 includes: an air mix damper 3 a (slide door) which is slidably disposed between the cool wind opening 1 h and the heating opening 1 i; and a rack-and-pinion mechanism 3 b which drives the air mix damper 3 a.

The air mix damper 3 a is formed of a thin resinous sheet that has a thickness of 1 mm or less, simultaneously controls an opening amount of the heating opening 1 i and an opening amount of the cool wind opening 1 h through which the cool wind (air stream) generated from the evaporator 2 passes, and thereby controlling an opening ratio between the cool wind opening 1 h and the heating opening 1 i.

Further, both ends of the air mix damper 3 a in the width direction perpendicular to the slide direction are slidably fitted to a guide groove (support member) provided in the inner wall of the casing 1, and both ends pass between the cool wind opening 1 h and the heating opening 1 i while sliding on the guide groove.

The rack-and-pinion mechanism 3 b is a mechanism that allows the air mix damper 3 a to be slid, and includes a pinion which is rotationally driven by receiving a driving force from a motor (not shown) and a rack which converts the rotative force of the pinion into the linear force and transmits the linear force to the air mix damper 3 a.

Further, in the vehicle air conditioning unit S1 of the embodiment, the rack of the rack-and-pinion mechanism 3 b is integrally formed with the air mix damper 3 a.

In this way, the vehicle air conditioning unit S1 of the embodiment has a configuration in which the air mix damper 3 a is slid by a rack-and-pinion system including a rack and a pinion, the thickness of the air mix damper 3 a is 1 mm or less, and the rack is integrally formed with the air mix damper 3 a.

Further, in the vehicle air conditioning unit S1 of the embodiment, the quantity of the conditioned air supplied to the heating passageway 1 b is controlled by controlling the opening ratio between the cool wind opening 1 h and the heating opening 1 i by using the air mix damper 3 a. As a result, since the mixing ratio between the cool wind and the warm wind in the mixing portion 1 c is controlled, the temperature of the conditioned air is controlled.

Subsequently, a deflection suppressing rib 4 (deflection suppressing portion) and a vibration suppressing rib 5 (vibration suppressing portion) will be described by referring to FIGS. 1 to 3. Further, FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating the cool wind opening 1 h and the heating opening 1 i when seen from the stream direction of the cool wind. Furthermore, FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating the air mix damper 3 a when seen from the slide direction.

The deflection suppressing rib 4 is a plate that suppresses a deflection of the air mix damper 3 a, and as shown in FIG. 2, the deflection suppressing rib 4 is disposed across each of the cool wind opening 1 h and the heating opening 1 i in the slide direction of the air mix damper 3 a. The deflection suppressing rib 4 is a plate that is integrally formed with the casing 1, and is disposed on the downstream side of the air mix damper 3 a.

The deflection suppressing rib 4 may suppress a deflection of the air mix damper 3 a by pressing the air mix damper 3 a from the downstream side when the air mix damper 3 a is curved and bent to the downstream side due to a cool wind applied thereto.

Further, in the vehicle air conditioning unit S1 of the embodiment, two deflection suppressing ribs 4 are disposed across each of the cool wind opening 1 h and the heating opening 1 i, and serve as the reinforcement members of the casing 1.

The vibration suppressing rib 5 is a plate that suppresses an amplitude of a vibration of air mix damper 3 a generated when the air mix damper 3 a is exposed to a cool wind, and as shown in FIG. 2, the vibration suppressing rib 5 is disposed across each of the cool wind opening 1 h and the heating opening 1 i in the slide direction of the air mix damper 3 a. The vibration suppressing rib 5 is a plate that is integrally formed with the casing 1 and is disposed on the downstream side of the air mix damper 3 a as in the deflection suppressing rib 4.

The vibration suppressing rib 5 corresponds to a contact member of the present invention, and when the air mix damper 3 a is exposed to a cool wind and is vibrated using the deflection suppressing rib 4 as a node, the vibration suppressing rib comes into contact with the air mix damper 3 a from the downstream side thereof so as to suppress an amplitude of the vibration of the air mix damper 3 a.

Further, in the vehicle air conditioning unit S1 of the embodiment, two vibration suppressing ribs 5 are disposed across each of the cool wind opening 1 h and the heating opening 1 i as in the deflection suppressing rib 4, and serve as the reinforcement members of the casing 1.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the deflection suppressing ribs 4 and the vibration suppressing ribs 5 are disposed in the whole width of the air mix damper 3 a with a nonuniform interval therebetween in the vehicle air conditioning unit S1 of the embodiment. In other words, the ends (two nodes at both ends) of the air mix damper 3 a in the width direction, the deflection suppressing ribs 4, and the vibration suppressing ribs 5 are disposed at nonuniform intervals.

Specifically, when the air mix damper 3 a is present, the distance between the end of the air mix damper 3 a and the deflection suppressing rib 4 closest to the end in the width direction of the air mix damper 3 a is not equal to the distance between the deflection suppressing rib 4 and the vibration suppressing rib 5 and the distance between the vibration suppressing ribs 5, and the deflection suppressing rib 4 and the vibration suppressing rib 5 are disposed to be close to the center of the whole width of the air mix damper 3 a.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in the vehicle air conditioning unit S1 of the embodiment, the vibration suppressing ribs 5 are disposed between two (a plurality of) deflection suppressing ribs 4 disposed in the width direction of the air mix damper 3 a.

When the vibration suppressing ribs 5 are not present as shown in FIG. 3, the air mix damper 3 a is repeatedly vibrated in the area between the thin line depicted by the one-dotted chain line and the thin line depicted by the two-dotted chain line, and particularly, the air mix damper 3 a is vibrated with a larger amplitude d1 at the side of the casing 1 than the center of the air mix damper 3 a.

On the contrary, when the vibration suppressing ribs 5 are present, the air mix damper 3 a is repeatedly vibrated in the area between the thick line depicted by the one-dotted chain line and the thick line depicted by the two-dotted chain line, and an amplitude d2 at the side of the casing 1 becomes smaller than the amplitude d1.

This may be understood as below. When the vibration suppressing ribs 5 come into contact with the air mix damper 3 a between the deflection suppressing ribs 4, the displacement amount of the air mix damper 3 a between the deflection suppressing ribs 4 decreases. Accordingly, the transmission of the vibration in the width direction of the air mix damper 3 a is reduced, and the displacement of the air mix damper 3 a between the deflection suppressing rib 4 and the casing 1 is suppressed.

Returning to FIG. 1, the heater core 6 is disposed inside the heating passageway 1 b, and generates a warm wind by heating a cool wind supplied via the heating opening 1 i.

The defroster outlet mode damper 7 is a damper that opens or closes the defroster outlet 1 d, and is adapted to be rotatable inside the casing 1.

The face outlet mode damper 8 is a damper that opens or closes the face outlet 1 e, and is rotatable inside the casing 1.

The foot outlet mode damper 9 is a damper that opens or closes the foot outlet 1 f, and is rotatable inside the casing 1.

Further, the air mix damper unit 3, the defroster outlet mode damper 7, the face outlet mode damper 8, and the foot outlet mode damper 9 receive power from a motor (not shown).

According to the vehicle air conditioning unit S1 of the embodiment with such a configuration, when both the cool wind opening 1 h and the heating opening 1 i are opened by the air mix damper unit 3, the air supplied to the cooling passageway 1 a is cooled by the evaporator 2 so that it becomes a cool wind, and a part of the cool wind is supplied to the heating passageway 1 b.

Further, a warm wind generated by the heater core 6 (heating) in the heating passageway 1 b is supplied from the warm wind opening 1 g to the mixing portion 1 c, and the cool wind not supplied to the heating passageway 1 b is supplied from the cool wind opening 1 h to the mixing portion 1 c.

The cool wind and the warm wind supplied to the mixing portion 1 c are mixed to become conditioned air (temperature-controlled air), and the conditioned air is supplied from several outlets (opened outlets) among the defroster outlet 1 d, the face outlet 1 e, and the foot outlet 1 f to the interior of the vehicle.

Here, in the vehicle air conditioning unit S1 of the embodiment, there are provided the heating opening 1 i and the cool wind opening 1 h through which the cool wind supplied from the evaporator 2 passes, and the air mix damper 3 a that controls the opening ratio between the cool wind opening 1 h and the heating opening 1 i. Further, there is provided the vibration suppressing rib 5 that suppresses the amplitude of the vibration of the air mix damper 3 a generated by the collision of the cool wind and the deflection suppressing rib 4 (node).

Since the amplitude of the vibration of the air mix damper 3 a is suppressed by the vibration suppressing rib 5 when the air mix damper 3 a is exposed to a cool wind, a force with which the air mix damper 3 a hits the support member (the casing 1 provided in the guide groove) supporting the air mix damper 3 a is decreased, and noise generated at the time may be reduced.

Accordingly, according to the vehicle air conditioning unit S1 of the embodiment, noise generated by the vibration of the air mix damper 3 a may be suppressed.

Further, in the vehicle air conditioning unit S1 of the embodiment, the deflection suppressing ribs 4 and the vibration suppressing ribs 5 are disposed in the whole width of the air mix damper 3 a at nonuniform intervals.

For this reason, the vibration of the air mix damper 3 a is difficult to be transmitted in the width direction, and the vibration of the air mix damper 3 a may be further reduced.

Further, in the vehicle air conditioning unit S1 of the embodiment, the vibration suppressing ribs 5 are disposed between two (a plurality of) deflection suppressing ribs 4 disposed in the width direction of the air mix damper 3 a.

For this reason, the space between the casing 1 and the deflection suppressing rib 4 may be reliably made wide in the width direction of the air mix damper 3 a. In the vehicle air conditioning unit S1, since there is a tendency that the air stream having a cool wind is closer to the casing inside the passageway, the air stream inside the casing 1 may be smoothly controlled by ensuring a wide space between the casing 1 and the deflection suppressing rib 4. Accordingly, in the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the distance between the end of the air mix damper 3 a and the deflection suppressing rib 4 closest to the end in the width direction of the air mix damper 3 a is larger than the distance between the deflection suppressing rib 4 and the vibration suppressing rib 5 or the distance between the vibration suppressing ribs 5.

Further, the vehicle air conditioning unit S1 of the embodiment has a configuration in which the thickness of the air mix damper 3 a is 1 mm or less, and the rack is integrally formed with the air mix damper 3 a. For this reason, the air mix damper 3 a can be smoothly slid.

Further, in the vehicle air conditioning unit S1 of the embodiment, the deflection suppressing rib 4 and the vibration suppressing rib 5 are integrally formed with the casing 1.

For this reason, the deflection suppressing rib 4 and the vibration suppressing rib 5 may be easily disposed at the optimal positions by assembling the casing 1.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated above, it should be understood that these are examples of the present invention and are not to be considered as limiting. Additions, omissions, substitutions, and other modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the present invention is not to be considered as being limited by the foregoing description, and is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, a configuration has been described in which the vibration suppressing portion is the vibration suppressing rib 5 integrally formed with the casing 1 and disposed on the downstream side of the air mix damper 3 a.

However, the present invention is not limited thereto. The present invention may adopt a configuration in which the vibration suppressing rib 5 is provided in the air mix damper 3 a or a configuration in which the vibration suppressing rib 5 is disposed on the upstream side of the air mix damper 3 a. Further, in the present invention, the vibration suppressing portion is not necessarily be formed as a plate member such as a rib, and may be formed in other shapes such as a rod.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a configuration has been described in which two deflection suppressing ribs 4 and two vibration suppressing ribs 5 are provided for each opening (the cool wind opening 1 h and the heating opening 1 i).

However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the number of the deflection suppressing ribs 4 and the vibration suppressing ribs 5 may be arbitrarily set.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a configuration has been described in which the slide door is the air mix damper 3 a.

However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and when there is provided a slide door controlling the opening ratio of other openings (the defroster outlet 1 d, the face outlet 1 e, the foot outlet 1 f, and the like), the present invention may be applied to the slide door provided in the other openings.

In the vehicle air conditioning unit, noise generated by the vibration of the slide door may be suppressed. 

1. A vehicle air conditioning unit comprising: a slide door which has an opening and is adopted to control an opening ratio of the opening allowing an air stream to flow therethrough; a deflection suppressing portion which is adopted to suppress a deflection of the slide door by pressing the slide door; and a vibration suppressing portion which is adopted to suppress an amplitude of a vibration of the slide door generated when the slide door is exposed to the air stream.
 2. The vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 1, wherein the vibration suppressing portion comes into contact with the slide door from a downstream side of the air stream when the slide door is vibrated.
 3. The vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 1, wherein the vibration suppressing portion is provided apart from the deflection suppressing portion, and the deflection suppressing portion and the vibration suppressing portion are disposed in the whole width of the slide door at a nonuniform interval.
 4. The vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 2, wherein the vibration suppressing portion is provided apart from the deflection suppressing portion, and the deflection suppressing portion and the vibration suppressing portion are disposed in the whole width of the slide door at a nonuniform interval.
 5. The vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the deflection suppressing portions is disposed in a width direction of the slide door, and the vibration suppressing portion is disposed between the deflection suppressing portions.
 6. The vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of the deflection suppressing portions is disposed in a width direction of the slide door, and the vibration suppressing portion is disposed between the deflection suppressing portions.
 7. The vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 1, wherein the slide door is slidable by a rack-and-pinion system including a rack and a pinion, a thickness of the slide door is 1 mm or less, and the rack is integrally formed with the slide door.
 8. The vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 2, wherein the slide door is slidable by a rack-and-pinion system including a rack and a pinion, a thickness of the slide door is 1 mm or less, and the rack is integrally formed with the slide door. 